Vashirdfel
Simply A Masterpiece
Cleveronix
A different way of telling a story
Candida
It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
coryspencer666
City on Fire is another classic Hong Kong cinematic experience, but Reservoir Dogs is definitely not a rip off. People question Tarantino's originality because of this film, but other than the similarities in the ending gunpoint scene and the 'undercover cop' story their different movies entirely.City on Fire focuses on one man and only one man, we follow his struggle through the intensity and risk of being undercover and the slightly less focused point of balancing work and relationships. Yun Fat Chow is again outstanding, from the Hong Kong cinema I have seen there is no one quite like that man, and in City on Fire he really does show that he is a leading man and not a supporting one. His performance is up their with Hard Boiled and that is saying something.One thing Hong Kong crime thrillers seem to do so well is music and action, and City on Fire really does mix the slow paced, relaxing jazz with the powerful action and grittiness of the characters and plot.It's no wonder Tarantino got his 'inspiration' from this film because its a good watch with strong acting from the lead roll and also captures Hong Kong perfectly especially the underbelly of the crime world. If you're put off by subtitled films then don't be because you're missing out on great cinema.
Matti-Man
CITY ON FIRE is not in the mold of A BETTER TOMORROW or FULL CONTACT. It's a drama about the emotional pressures an undercover police officer faces when he is ordered, against his better judgement, to infiltrate a gang of violent, gun-toting jewel robbers.That Ko Chow (Chow Yun Fat) is having problems with his fiancée makes the situation all the more difficult for him. He's unable to explain why it is he can never keep a date with Hung (Carrie Ng) as only secrecy is keeping him alive. Even his fellow officers don't know he is really an undercover cop and pursue him relentlessly as they (rightly) suspect him of supplying arms to the robbers.The negative points are that the drama between Ko Chow and Hung is never convincingly explored. Even if Ko Chow couldn't tell Hung that he was having meetings with the leader of the jewel thieves, he could at least tell her something. No wonder she leaves him for a sixty- year-old millionaire.Also, Ko Chow's deep bond of friendship with Fu (Danny Lee) is a bit easily formed. It just doesn't convince that one conversation between them about their childhoods would make them so close that one would die for the other.In this respect, the script construction of CITY ON FIRE is a little weak.However, credit should be given to director/writer Ringo Lam for bringing the theme of misplaced loyalty to the undercover cop genre.And though RESERVOIR DOGS is criticised here for stealing the core plot elements of CITY ON FIRE, it has to be said that the structure of Taratino's film is far superior to Lam's. But it would be nice to think Quentin had paid Ringo something for using his ideas.
Dave Kaminskas
A young cop goes undercover to infiltrate a group of jewelry thieves. Quentin Tarantino definately saw this one. He basically took the story and molded it into his own flick... Reservoir Dogs. If you were a fan of Reservoir Dogs than you will probably like this film. Although it is the same story, the movies are completely different. Instead of spending the entire movie in the warehouse, this film goes and shows more of the undercover cop's life and his relationship with his girlfriend. There are also many other things going on. Well made, well directed, and a great story. This one doesn't have the hip dialogue the Tarantino film has got, but it is still a blast to watch. *** out of ****
Bogey Man
Ringo Lam's perhaps most famous and influential film is this, CITY ON FIRE, from 1987. It was Quentin Tarantino's inspiration for his Reservoir Dogs (1992), and Quentin wanted to express his admiration and passion for Hong Kong film makers and their films by updating Lam's themes for his debut film. Reservoir is definitely not any rip off like some have suggested, it a tribute. Chow Yun-Fat plays cop Chow, who has traumatic past as he betrayed his criminal friend to the police force. Danny Lee plays criminal boss Fu, whose gang is terrorizing the town with numerous robberies and the forthcoming, big robbery of a jewelry store. Chow and Fu become friends as Chow's mission is again to go undercover to Fu's gang and give details to the police about the robbery so the criminals could be arrested and sent to jail. Unfortunately, Chow notices it is too late to undo what he's done again, and again he finds himself betraying a friend, but this time the results are more horrific.The theme of the film is friendship and loyalty between two people at opposite sides of the law. Chow and Fu start to like each other and more importantly, Fu starts to trust Chow, who in this case isn't a trustworthy friend. The end scene again is pretty harrowing as Fu learns the truth and Chow gets to know the price. Two years later Danny Lee and Chow Yun-Fat would play similar roles in John Woo's The Killer (1989), in which Lee is the cop and Chow the criminal/killer. These themes are very usual in Hong Kong action thrillers, in which people love and value their friends and are ready to die for them. City on Fire is pretty gritty and violent gangster depiction and the finale in the storehouse is the film's most memorable and stunning segment. The lightning and blue color is used to the maximum effect and it gives the kind of punch only Hong Kong cinema seems to be able to give. Never have I seen such a strong use of atmospheric smoke and blue than in these Hong Kong films, and the finale of CITY ON FIRE is as gorgeous looking as the scenes in Danny Lee's true crime thriller Dr. Lamb, 1992. CITY ON FIRE, however, suffers a little because of weak characters and that especially Chow isn't too well written and doesn't act as believably as possible. For example, the difficulties he has with his girlfriend are not handled too carefully as we don't know does Chow love her and want to live with her or not. Occasionally he seems to be in love with her, but then he may leave her waiting for him hours and seems not to understand what she's so sad for. Their relationship should have been more carefully and deeper written. Also, the scene in the restaurant when Chow informs about his willingness to delay their wedding because of his mission is almost unbearably cold and unemotional as the girl visibly suffers and cries inside and doesn't even get a proper answer or reason for this from Chow. Not very well written scene at all.Also I'm little irritated by the fact that the gunshot wound in the stomach is depicted so un-painfully. Tim Roth suffers the whole Reservoir Dogs's running time with a bullet in his stomach, and that is definitely a realistic depiction of such a horrific result of violence. In CITY ON FIRE, the character (without spoiling) just sits there and holds his tummy a little and seems not to bleed or suffer at all. There should have been little more realism as was in Tarantino's film. Otherwise the brief gun battles and acts of violence are realistic and not glorified: when bullets hits a person, he most likely dies as in real life, too. CITY ON FIRE isn't a so called "bullet ballet" film with huge amount of gun play action, and the violence in CITY ON FIRE is brutal and remorseless and never without its consequences.I give CITY ON FIRE 7/10 and it is still very remarkable film because its interesting themes and the gorgeous atmospheric finale which should be seen in big screen because this film, like many others, suffers and loses its power when seen on video and small TV screen. Ringo Lam is among my favorite Hong Kong directors and his real, unbelievable, masterpiece FULL CONTACT (1992, starring again Chow) finally established him among the greatest Hong Kong directors and in the action genre, at the same position with John Woo.
